The world's most famous elephant died in Ontario. This author is telling Jumbo's story

A new book about a circus elephant that died in St. Thomas, Ont., brings Jumbo's story to life. 

While crisscrossing North America as a spectacle in the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the elephant was struck by a locomotive in 1885.  At the time, Jumbomania was at a high and the the southwestern Ontario city, a major railway hub, was a major stop on the tour. 

Halifax author Stephens Gerard Malone's new work of historical fiction is called Jumbo.  This interview with CBC London host Allison Devereaux has been edited for clarity and length. 

Allison Devereaux: Will you tell us about Jumbo's life?

Stephens Gerard Malone: He had, by today's standards, a horrific tale of animal abuse, but it was also a tale of incredible celebrity. Jumbo was under the glare of spotlight almost his entire life, from when he joined the London (England) Zoo in the 1860s, to the sensational sale to to P.T. Barnum in 1882, and then his triumphant run with the circus until his demise in St. Thomas. 

Tell us about that "sensational sale."

By the time he had been sold in the 1880s, he was a huge favourite at the London Zoo. He was giving rides every day. He'd had Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's children, ride his back, as well as the young Winston Churchill. He was quite beloved.

But by the time he was sold, he was starting to get quite violent. He was destroying his den in Elephant House. Part of this was attributed to an early sexual maturity, because of being in captivity. 

New research solves mysteries about Jumbo the elephant's life and mysterious death

Part of the other problem was that his keeper, Matthew Scott, who'd been with him his entire life, had kind of become a law unto himself. He was the only one who could manage Jumbo and was sort of getting above his station in the London Zoo.

So when when Barnum came along and offered 2,000 pounds for the sale of Jumbo, the London Zoo jumped at it. It became this cause celebre in London about, "Oh my gosh, we can't we can't let Jumbo go to the Americans and we certainly can't let him go to to P.T. Barnum.'"

Part of this was fuelled by Barnum himself, who was notorious for filing lawsuits against himself. He would write letters to English newspapers saying, "Oh, it's terrible, we shouldn't be selling Jumbo."

He really believed there was no bad publicity. He was part and parcel creator of Jumbomania, which was coined at the time of Jumbo's sale. 

Watch! From the CBC archives: Jumbo comes to St. Thomas

Jumbo died in southwestern Ontario. What did you learn about that?

I had never planned on writing a book about Jumbo. I thought I was going to write a book about somebody in the Arctic and I was looking for a nickname for a character that who would have big ears. I was doing a search on the Internet came across Jumbo — the first thing I see is a picture of this statue in St. Thomas, Ont. 

I came across this fascinating story about this elephant who is in the London Zoo, who was in the circus, who walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then has this horrific accident in St. Thomas, that even makes headlines in the New York Times.

Jumbo's stroll over Brooklyn Bridge

The circus often made the rounds through southern Ontario, as it was doing this circle from New York back to Bridgeport, CT., at the end of the year. St. Thomas was a railway hub and a frequent stop for for P.T. Barnum. Here we have this amazing story with a Canadian connection that's still celebrated today in St. Thomas — yet we know very little about it. 

Having written this book and and spent so much time with this story, what do you think we can all learn from Jumbo's story?

Obviously, the treatment of animals and, by extension, the environment is still as relevant today as ever.

Gawking at people at the circus, we're still doing that today, but it has just all moved online. We're still intrigued by that sort of thing and that sort of fascination with oddities and curiosities. I wanted to show that is has a terrible effect on the people we're looking at, or the animals we're using for our pleasure. 

It really hasn't changed all the much, we're just doing it in a different way. I think a lot of the story is still very relevant today.